Woodland Wishes Funeral Services
4, High Street, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5DH
With its squishy sofas, scented candles and uplifting artwork, depicting pretty woodlands, carpeted with bluebells and flooded with sunlight, Woodland Wishes HQ in Fulbourn is a warm, welcoming haven. It’s far removed from the stark, sterile feel of a traditional funeral parlour, and this is exactly what Tracy O’Leary intended when she set up the business in 2012, offering more personalised funeral services using ‘earth friendly’ coffins.
Enthusiastic and empathetic, Tracy is passionate about giving families the opportunity to say a more meaningful goodbye and dispensing with unwanted fuss and exorbitant costs.
It was while working for Cambridge homeless charity WinterComfort that Tracy was asked to market woven willow coffins, but funeral directors were reluctant to invest. So Tracy went directly to families yearning for a more relaxed service. Word spread, and Woodland Wishes has evolved organically, since winning accolades for its biodegradable, sustainable and affordable products.
Today the company offers funerals, cremations and natural burials at the UK’s 300 woodland sites, including peaceful resting places in Barton, Six Mile Bottom, and Ramsey. Coffins are locally made in willow, wool, solid pine and cardboard, which can be photoprinted or decorated with children’s handprints to add the personal touch.
As well as their Nissan Leaf all-electric ‘hearsette’, which is smaller than a traditional hearse, Woodland Wishes now offers a fully electric hearse – for those who prefer something along more traditional lines, and a bicycle hearse to add to their more greener modes of funeral transport for our cycle city.
Tracy has a chapel of rest – at the aptly named Woodland House in Great Wilbraham – filled with willow hearts, flowers and lavender candles, where family can spend precious time.
At its heart an honest, ethical indie, Woodland Wishes goes the extra mile with Tracy available 24/7. Whatever send-off is required, from services in a field full of llamas to intimate funerals at home, Woodland Wishes have made those desires a reality, providing real comfort to grieving relatives.